The Congress today attacked the government for not acting on the BJP’s poll promise of “bringing back black money”, while the BJP stressed its government’s commitment on tracking black money.

While the Congress has mounted an offensive, many of the politicians named in the list belong to the party. Most of them have, however, denied holding accounts. They include former minister Preneet Kaur, former MP Annu Tandon, members of the families of late minister Vasant Sathe and former Maharashtra CM Narayan Rane (wife Neelam Narayan Rane and son Nilesh Rane).

“We urge the government to order an impartial investigation into what The Indian Express has reported and follow it up with stringent action…The Congress position is clear; anybody found violating the law should be booked,” Congress spokesperson Ajoy Kumar told reporters.

Manish Tewari too reminding the BJP of its poll promise. “With corporate cheerleaders of the government (named) in the Swiss leaks, would the PM honour his campaign promise of bringing black money back and depositing Rs 15 lakh in the bank account of every Indian, or would he also like the president of BJP shrug it off as a chunavi jumla?” Tiwari said.

Asked about the names of Congress leaders in the list, Tiwari told The Indian Express all of them have already denied holding accounts. “If at all there is any substance or evidence, then the law will take its own course.”

Apart from Arun Jaitley stressing the government’s commitment, his party too did so. “The BJP government is committed on the issue of black money,” BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma said. “The government had set up the SIT and had given the names to the SIT on June 26. The process is on and the SIT chief himself has praised the government on its approach on the issue. The process will be completed by March 31.”

The Left said the exposé has “once again astonished the citizens of India”. “… The onus lies on the government of India to take immediate action to bring back the black money stashed abroad and prosecute them as per law,” the CPI said in a statement. “Many account-holders are very closely associated with the former UPA and present NDA governments. It is also important to recall here that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi had during the general elections promised to unearth the black money and transfer from the confiscated amount Rs 15 lakh to each family.”

JD(U) secretary-general and Rajya Sabha member K C Tyagi demanded that cases be registered under FEMA against the politicians and others named. “We want more action and less publicity,” Tyagi said; he too reminded the ruling BJP of its pre-election promise .